Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Dear Late Girl...

I was late for my Yoga Teacher Training class last Friday night.
Ugh.
 
Our classes begin on Thursday and Friday evenings at 6:30 p.m. – except for sometimes on Friday we start at 6:15 p.m. The Friday-night-start-time hasn’t been consistent, and well, you could say I botched it last Friday night.

I was pressed for time on Friday and I knew I was cutting it close – I thought class began at 6:30 p.m. and I walked in the door at 6:28. “Plenty of time,” I was thinking, as the teacher rarely starts right on time. Imagine my horror/disappointment/confusion when I stepped inside the yoga studio and the entire lobby was quiet and empty. Where were all of my classmates?

Turns out, they were already behind the closed glass door, sitting with the lights off, 15 minutes into a guided meditation.
What the…?!?!

I missed the actual start time.
Now, I pride myself in being punctual, especially for yoga classes. Yoga classes typically begin with a warm up and centering session – the room is quiet as the students prepare for their yoga practice. Arriving late means disruption to the class and I think it’s disrespectful to the teacher. That’s just how I feel about it.

And I don’t care how quiet you think you can be, when you tiptoe into a silent yoga room even your bare feet on the wood floor make noise. {squish-squish-squish} Rolling out your sticky mat as gently as possible... {chiiiiiicccckkk-flop} Lowering your keys as softly to the floor as you can... {CLINK-CLANK!}
Latecomers to yoga classes have always annoyed me just a little, and now, sitting outside of my yoga teacher training classroom while all of my classmates enjoyed a delicious round of pranayama on the inside…I was that girl. I was Late Girl. The inconsiderate, can’t-be-quiet, Late Girl.

I sat out in the lobby for a while, feeling embarrassed and ashamed and beating myself up for being late. I decided I would wait until the lights came on before entering the classroom so there I sat. Waiting. And thinking.
It wasn’t long before one of my classmates slipped out through the door and headed down the hall to the ladies room. “Yes!” I thought. This would be my opportunity to slip back in with her and go semi-unnoticed.
So that’s what I did.
Just inside the door I gently sat my book bag down and decided I’d wait until the lights came on to roll out my mat – I was pleased that my entrance had seemed super quiet!  “I’ll just sit right here on the floor for now,” I thought. Super quiet. But lowering myself to the floor, the joints of my body revealed me - knees and ankles and hip joints popping all the way down. {POP!!! POP!!! POP!!!} ~sigh~
Breathe, Deb, breathe!!! Slow inhales…let it go…Late Girl…breathe…let it go…you’re in…it’s over...Late Girl…breathe…
Later, during a break, I apologized to the student next to me for being late. “That’s ok,” she said sweetly, and then she told me she had been pressed for time herself as her little girl was crying when she left her with the babysitter.
Well, hello lesson.
Late Girl is every single one of us. Late Girl makes mistakes about the class start time, or she has to spend an extra minute giving her 2-year old hugs, or there’s car trouble or kid trouble or traffic to battle. Late Girl isn’t always late on purpose – who would want to do that on purpose? Late Girl is every one of us, at any given time, maneuvering through time and space on planet earth – doing our best to piece it all together.
Dear Late Girl, I’m sorry for all the times I’ve felt exasperated at your tardiness. I’m sorry for judging you and labeling you as “Late Girl.” You probably need that yoga class more than anyone else already on their mats, waiting in silence for you to settle in. You still can’t unroll a sticky mat in complete silence, but you can take a deep breath and let it go. Receive and enjoy your practice… Namaste. xo

Friday, September 26, 2014

Just a Quote for Friday


"Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime."
~ Lawrence G. Lovasik

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Summer of 2014 ~ Final Photography Scavenger Hunt Photos

Yes, another summer has come and gone and Rinda's Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt has come to an end. Her third year running, this summer's scavenger hunt list was every bit as fun as previous years.

I found everything on the list except for a parade. True story: I had a dream the other night that a random parade marched right through our neighborhood and I went scurrying inside for my camera, so excited to be able to grab that last item. But alas, by the time I got my camera and came back outside the parade had marched by. ~sigh~

Anyway! I managed to find 20 of the 21 items, and I'm using one of the substitute items to fill in the blank for the parade I missed.



1 - a sign welcoming people to your home town
2 - a garden gnome
3 - birds on a wire
4 - a group of tourists







5 - a rack of postcards
6 - an urban street scene {San Diego, California}
7 - a rural landscape {around El Centro, California}
8 - a tattoo on a person {Carrie getting ink}





9 - a bakery
10 - a photo bomb
11 - a horn
12 - a mascot







13 - a [tequila] sunrise
14 - a birdhouse {an allowed substitute for a parade}
15 - a juggler
16 - a sign in a language other than English






17 - a lamp post
19 - a public garden
20 - a bus with a picture painted on its sides




21 - a photograph of me with something representing the season {summer}

So much fun, right?

One of the really fun things about this scavenger hunt is the variety of photos taken all around the world. Click here to visit Rinda's blog and check out links to other bloggers that participated in this photography scavenger hunt.

And a great big thanks to Rinda for hosting this fun event again this year!

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

This week, I am...


happy.
busy.
strong.
learning.
healing.
thinking.
forgiving.
breathing.
letting go.
grateful.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Just a Quote for Friday

"It's impossible," said pride.
"It's risky," said experience.
"It's pointless," said reason.
"Give it a try," whispered the heart.
 
~ author unknown

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Thoughts on yoga and what to write...what to write...

My yoga teacher training course has me feeling very introspective. It’s a little odd for me to feel this way and I’m sorting that out. The Me before yoga teacher training would have been banging out blog post after blog post, writing about it and sharing every little bit of it. But, in true introspective form, this feels like something I want to mull over, to think about, and not try to articulate or explain.
 
I wanted to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the yoga survey I posted a few weeks ago. I have to say that your comments and questions were very humbling for me. I think I take for granted that I have such readily available yoga resources close by. I sometimes take for granted that my body is healthy and can move freely. In a perfect world, every one of you would have access to a variety of yoga studios and great teachers. Knowing that’s not the case for everyone humbles me and has me counting my blessings. My yoga practice is yet another perk of being me.

My readers gave me a total of 19 questions on my yoga survey, and in typical me-fashion, I sat right down and typed up my answers in a lengthy Word document. Then I created a blog post and saved it to my draft posts. A few days later I went back and cut it in half because it was a super long post. Then I went back and cut it down some more.
Then I went back and cut it all out, left the photo, and added these words.


I’m still trying to find my footing between yoga teacher (-to-be) and blogger. I fully embrace the fact that this is my blog and I am free to share whatever I want here, but this blog space was never intended to be all about yoga. Not to mention, I am not a certified yoga teacher (yet!) and I’m not so sure I feel qualified/comfortable answering all 19 of the questions that you so sweetly asked of me.
In the beginning at our yoga teacher training orientation, one of the master teachers told us that as soon as people found out we were studying to be yoga teachers we would be called upon to share our knowledge of the practice. At first I thought she was going to caution us to not get ahead of ourselves and start acting like teachers, but the opposite was true. She told us to start sharing our love and knowledge about yoga. She told us that we were already teachers and that we should start embracing that and feel free to share our knowledge. She told us to start acting like teachers!
In that moment I felt excited and, quite frankly, just a little freaked out. It’s a huge responsibility, this yoga teacher gig, and something I do not take lightly. Yoga is something that I feel very passionate about, and I consider it an honor to share that with others. I want to share it on my blog too, but I’m still trying to figure out the best way to do that. I have a few yoga posts written and saved as drafts, but whenever I read them I think they sound too preachy – too much like a lecture – and maybe a little too trippy for PaperTurtle.

Ultimately, I want to give you little bits of information that will create a curiosity about yoga. If you don’t practice yoga, I would love to influence you to want to practice! And the very last thing I would want to do is to come across as preachy or know-it-all. Perhaps the best way to approach it is to continue to share my own personal stories – to tell you how yoga has influenced me and made such a difference in my life.
Ah – there are so many levels of yoga. The philosophy and ideals are such pure and basic and beautiful theories to embrace. I want to give that to each and every one of you. I want to teach you like you were standing barefoot on a sticky mat right in front of me, and to help you understand that yoga has something for every body. And soul. I want to write yoga blog posts in a way that conveys my love of yoga, and my hopes that everyone could experience it on some level.
The trick is figuring out the best way to do that on my blog.
Time for more introspection…
PS: I am committed to answering each and every one of those 19 questions about yoga here on my blog. I love this amazing journey and I’m excited to share some of it here on PaperTurtle.

Monday, September 15, 2014

My life, currently...


These days I am:

Reading "Yoga Anatomy" and "The Bhagavad Gita." Deep.

Practicing yoga. Yoga. Yoga.

Feeling strong and sore and tired and energized. I think my body is a bit confused these days.

Thinking. Thinking. Always thinking. About yoga philosophies, yoga poses, and what needs to be done at work and home in the midst of my yoga commitments.

Looking forward to finishing my yoga teacher training at the end of this year but knowing I'll want more when this phase is complete.

Settling in to this new routine I've signed myself up for. This is week number six (of 19) and for whatever reason the adjustment period has been slow for me. I think I wasn't really prepared for the time commitment of yoga teacher training. And while I absolutely love it, it feels like every little bit of my daily life and routine has shifted.

Blogging differently these days. My blog has had to take a back seat on my list of priorities.

Trying to not feel guilty for my lack of participation in blog land. I just haven't had time for blog reading and commenting.

Missing Douglas. It's hunting season and he's been away a lot, but he's coming home today. Hooray!!!

Cooking hardly anything these days and buying lots of frozen meals for Doug to have on evenings when I'm at yoga class.

Taking hardly any photos - partly because I'm busy and partly because I'm a little bored with the same ol' stuff to photograph.

Sewing here and there and getting close to finishing September's square for Fiona's Friendship Quilt Exchange.

Listening to "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor. Over and over and over.

Being super happy even though this blog post sounds like I'm a bit worn out.

Happy new week, everyone!

Friday, September 12, 2014

Just a Quote for Friday

{Doug's photo}

"You are the sky. Everything else - it's just the weather."
~ Pema Chodron

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Crockpot Lasagna Soup

I have a really yummy recipe to share with you today!
:o)
Fall is coming and I couldn't be happier! I look forward to cooler weather and the opportunity to make hot meals for Doug and I. And also with fall comes the onset of hunting season which means that Doug needs meals to take in his ice chest - things that are hearty and easy to reheat when he returns to camp at the end of the day. I love being able to make some meals for him to take along.







Last weekend Doug was away scouting and I had yoga school to go to. I've been wanting to try this recipe for lasagna soup, so I loaded it up in the crockpot before I headed out that morning. I felt happy knowing that when Doug came home later that day (before me) the house would smell amazing. Coming home to the aroma of crockpot food is something that makes my hubby very happy.

I saw this recipe in a magazine a few years ago and typed it up - hard copy style. I can't remember the magazine I found it in, so if this is a recipe that you personally made up, please let me know and I will give you credit. In the meantime, I'm going to share the recipe with my modifications and the disclosure that the original was not my idea.



Lasagna Soup for the Crockpot

Combine the following ingredients in a crockpot:
1 onion, chopped
1 to 2 zucchinis, diced into small pieces
10 3/4 oz. tomato soup, canned, condensed
14.5 oz. tomatoes, canned, petite diced
15 oz. tomato sauce, canned
2 t. chicken bouillon granules
2 t. beef bouillon granules
4 c. water
1 1/2 t. oregano
1 1/2 t. basil
1 t. parsley
2 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
8 lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces, uncooked

Crumble over the top of the soup mixture:
1 lb. lean ground beef, raw
I broke the ground beef up in little pieces to resemble very small meatballs.
 Cover. Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.

8 oz. Ricotta cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese
Now, the original recipe called for stirring in ricotta and mozzarella cheese 30 minutes before serving. The soup was just so pretty, and I knew the addition of the cheese would totally change the presentation. So instead of stirring it in, I saved the cheese and added a dollop of Ricotta and a sprinkling of mozzarella just before serving it.
* * * * * * * *
Oh my gosh this soup was delicious! Doug loved it too, and was spontaneously mmmmmm-ing as he took his first few bites. :o)

I packaged the leftovers into freezer bags with a good serving of the soup, and added a spoonful of ricotta cheese to the top before sealing it up. I figured the cheese mixed in won't hinder the presentation of the soup at camp, and if it does Doug won't mind.

This one's a keeper - the recipe, and Douglas.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The Weather in Arizona

I don't say much about our Arizona weather here on my blog other than to complain about the heat from time to time, but today I have some photos of something out of the ordinary for us. You may have heard about the excessive rain we had yesterday in the Phoenix metropolitan area.


A very loud thunderstorm woke us in the early hours yesterday morning (around 2:30 a.m.) and kept us awake for a good part of the night - super loud thunder and a steady downpour of rain. We learned later that it was the end result of a hurricane that had formed in the Pacific ocean, dropping 3.29 inches of rain on us yesterday. Now that might not seem like a whole lot, but that's more rain than we typically get during the months of July, August and September combined! And since we live in a desert, we don't really have gutter systems to drain the water away and out of neighborhoods quickly. The photos above and below were taken from our driveway yesterday morning as we prepared to leave our house for work.
 


I was going to slant this blog post by saying it wasn't all that bad. The media really hypes up the news anytime we get even the slightest amount of rain. But the truth is that some parts of the valley retained more water than on our side of town. My brother, who lives on the west side of town, suffered serious damage to his car and tires while driving through a flooded intersection in the early hours of the day. Lots of roads were closed, including one of our major interstates. {You can watch a brief news report here.}

It made for an interesting drive to work yesterday morning, and some people were even forced to stay home for the day. But by time we drove home from work yesterday afternoon, things looked a bit like this, with outer lanes still flooded and sidewalk edges not visible:

And here's our street view when we got home:



A few of my blog readers reached out to me yesterday to make sure we were ok - so sweet of you guys! That prompted me sharing these photos today to let you know that the sun is shining in Arizona today, and I'll probably be complaining about the heat and humidity later this afternoon. Some parts of the valley still have standing water and some folks have some serious property damage to deal with, but we were very fortunate in our part of town.
 
To my far away friends: Thanks for thinking of us yesterday!
To my local friends: How did you weather the storm?

Monday, September 8, 2014

My weekend and Doug's photos

Good morning, blog friends.
I hope you all had lovely weekends! Mine was busy, busy, busy and yesterday afternoon I realized I hadn't taken any photos to use for my weekend recap. What to do...what to do...

And then Doug came home from a weekend in the wilderness and he had these photos on his point and shoot. Perfect!

Doug spent the weekend in Ashfork, Arizona, hunting for deer and scouting for elk. Unfortunately for Doug, and fortunately for the deer, nothing dead came home with him.






I have yoga teacher training every Thursday and Friday evening, and then the first Saturday and Sunday of the month. So this morning finds me fresh out of four straight days of yoga school - a little sore but a lot of happy and wishing for another day off to get some things done around my house.
 
Time to switch gears...
I hope happiness finds you this week, my friends.
And if it doesn't find you, go look for it yourselves!
xoxox

Friday, September 5, 2014

Just a Quote for Friday


"And God said 'love your enemy,'
and I obeyed him and loved myself."
~ Khalil Gibran

Thursday, September 4, 2014

The Magic of Snail Mail

When my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in February 2011, I started sending her a piece of mail every week. I would send a notecard, a postcard, and sometimes a little trinket or food item. She was in California, and I'm in Arizona, so a little bit of snail mail every week helped bridge the gap in miles between us. That weekly mail meant so much to her.

And when I started sending mail to my mom, I included my grandma too. I could only imagine how hard it was for her to see her own daughter suffer, and since I was sending weekly mail to my mom it was easy enough to include an extra piece for Grandma.

Well, you know how this story unfolded; my mom lost her battle in October 2012, but I continued to send weekly mail to my grandma. I think she needed it more than ever after my mom was gone.

When we visited Grandma last weekend in California she had something to show me. She disappeared into her bedroom and came back with a bag perched on her walker. The bag contained dozens (and dozens) of envelopes and postcards - many of them from me, a few from my sweet Carrie, and others from some of my cousins. She saves them like they are valuable treasures, all of them so precious to her.



There's a space on our kitchen counter where I tuck little bits of mail that I want to save, and the stack has been growing over the past couple of months. This is partly thanks to Sian and her sweet idea to organize the Pile of Postcards Exchange over the summer, and partly due to the sweetness and generosity of my friends and family. Each of them represents a little piece of someone's time and thoughtfulness, and every one is special to me.

It seems that the art of a handwritten note is fading in a world of texting, emailing, Facebooking, and Tweeting. When is the last time you wrote a quick note, addressed it, and slapped a stamp on it? I'm encouraging you to do just that this month, just as Sian encouraged us over the summer.

Who can you reach out to via snail mail in the month of September?
Whose day will you brighten?

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Yoga and the Turtle ~ Breathing 101

"Anybody who wants to can practice yoga. Anybody can breathe; therefore anybody can practice yoga. But no one can practice every kind of yoga. It has to be the right yoga for the person."

 ~ T.K.V. Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga


Breathing is the heart of yoga, and if you only ever learn one thing from me about yoga, I hope you find it in this blog post about breathing. Focusing on our breath pulls our thoughts inward and away from what's stressing us - whether that be a cranky boss or baby, or maybe a strenuous yoga pose.
Today I’m going to lead you through a simple yoga practice and you don’t even have to leave your chair. Come on, it will be really good for you and I think it's a fun experiment. All you have to do is follow along...
Step 1 – Take a deep breath and notice what that feels like for you. Everyone…deep breath... Did you inhale through your nose or mouth? Did the air intake cause your chest or tummy to expand? Now take another deep breath and notice it. Don’t try to change anything yet – just notice.
Step 2 – Sit up tall. Imagine there's a string hanging directly above your head with a small bead dangling at the end of it. The bead is hovering right at the center of the top of your skull, just above your head. I want you to sit or stand so straight and tall that the top of your head could almost touch the imaginary bead. Lift yourself up toward that bead.
This means you will probably have to lift from your ribcage. You will no doubt need to lift your chest, your collar bones, your chin, shoulders round back and down, neck extended upward… Play with this bit, and see how tall you can make yourself without tensing any muscles. Stretch up toward that bead.
Step 3 – Notice how it feels to sit up tall. Notice how that simple action creates more space in your ribcage and diaphragm. Think of the pressure this simple action takes off of the space intended for your lungs and other organs. By sitting tall and lengthening your spine, you've created more room for your lungs to expand.
Step 4 – Now take another deep breath. And this time inhale slowly through your nose and focus on pulling the air down into your abdomen and lower rib cage then into your chest, filling your lungs from the bottom up. Try this a few times and practice inhaling as slowly as you can – breathing in as much air as you possibly can, and then exhaling completely. On your exhale, imagine the air in your lungs emptying from top to bottom. And remember, breathe in and out as slowly as you can - beginning to practice the art of controlling your breath. And for added benefit, try it with your eyes closed. Repeat the inhaling and exhaling five to ten times, sitting tall and focusing on your breath. I’ll wait…
Step 5 – Notice how you feel now, after all that yummy oxygen. Use this technique when you are stressed, when you need to refocus, when you need an energy boost.

Step 6, from here on out... - Remind yourself from time to time to stop and notice your breath. Learn to slow it down and deepen your inhale. It may take some time and practice, but the benefits will amaze you!

Oh and guess what? You just did yoga.
You’re welcome.
PS: There are some great articles online about the benefits of deep breathing. I liked this one, and you can find more through a Google search here.
PS: Thanks so much to those who took time to complete my yoga survey last week. I will have a post in the near future with an overview of the results and answers to your questions. xo

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Labor Day Weekend Recap

Good morning, friends.
Oh how I love myself a three-day weekend. And oh how I love myself a trip to California to spend some time with my fun family. Come on in....


Carrie and I flew to California Friday evening and there was a bit of a snafu with our flight. The information monitor showed that our flight was delayed, so we decided to have a glass of wine and a bite to eat to kill some time. By the time we got to our gate, the flight had been downgraded to a smaller plane (eek) and had, in fact, taken off on time. Without us. Ugh! We got boarding passes for the next flight out, went back to the dining establishment and had more wine.


Friday night was a late night, but we were up early on Saturday morning and heading to a nearby town to visit my grandma. We had my niece/Carrie's sidekick, Britny with us too. I loved spending time with my grandma, daughter, and niece on Saturday! I took all of the quilt squares that I've made and received for Fiona's Friendship Quilt Exchange and my grandma loved seeing those.

My uncle, Ken, made a yummy lunch for us, and Grandma made a chocolate dessert. As I was telling her how delicious it looked she mentioned, "Marti told me to make that for Carrie." Grandma turned 94 this year and her mind is sharp as a tack, but I'll admit when I heard that I thought maybe she was starting to lose it just a little. Then she told me she'd been reading through an old calendar/journal she keeps and pointed it out on the counter for me to see...
 
Back at my sister's house later that day, we had the sweet pleasure of spending time with my baby niece, Olivia who is growing so fast! I felt so happy when Olivia's mommy pulled this quilt I'd made out of her bag and spread it out for Olivia to play on. It was fun to see how soft it is now that it's been washed several times. And that sweet baby girl?!?! Be still, my heart!


And there were sweet, smart, handsome nephews to love on as well...

Saturday night was a late night too, but we were up early on Sunday morning for a little yoga session. As part of my teacher training I'm required to lead four classes on my own, so I checked one off my list by leading a class in my sister's living room for four of the girls. I need a lot more practice before my technique (and confidence) is where it should be, but everyone has to start somewhere, eh?

Sunday afternoon seven of us went for pedicures and got teal toes for my mom. {See yesterday's post...}

This next picture warms my heart and also tugs at its strings too. One final photo before we said goodbye and headed for the airport to come home...

But wait, we're not done. Doug picked us up at the airport on Sunday and drove us to downtown Phoenix and dropped us off at the venue where Jason Mraz was preforming. Our whole day had been a series of perfect timing - woke up in time for yoga, made it to the restaurant for lunch with more family, made it to the airport just in time, a flight home with no delays, and dropped off at the concert venue just as the doors were opening.

Sunday night was a late night, and included one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Carrie and I love Jason Mraz anyway, and this time he's touring with Raining Jane. It was a very laid back and beautiful performance. Loved.It.So.Much!




And yesterday? I slept.
 
Wishing you all a wonderful {short} week ahead.
xoxox

Monday, September 1, 2014

An important message for September, and teal toes for Marti

My mom lost her battle with ovarian cancer in October 2012.
September is ovarian cancer awareness month, and while I don't plan to make that the focus on my blog for this entire month, I do feel a sense of obligation to at least mention it on this, the first day of September.

#tealtoesforMarti
While Carrie and I were visiting our family in California this past weekend, we set aside some time to have pedicures. In honor of my mom, the nail polish we chose was teal, the color representing ovarian cancer.

Please take a few minutes to educate yourself about ovarian cancer and its symptoms. And if you are so inclined, we'd love to have you join us in remembering our mom/grandmother, Marti, with teal toes in September.

You can read more about my mom here.
Please use hashtag #TealToesForMarti on Instagram so we can appreciate you.
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